Fugitive Polanski Wants To Come Home

Director Convicted Of Sex Charge Says 2008 Documentary Exonerates Him

(CBS/AP)  Lawyers for Roman Polanski, a fugitive for 30 years in a notorious sex case involving a 13-year-old girl, filed a request Tuesday to dismiss the charge against him because of prosecutorial and judicial misconduct.

The motion alleges that a documentary about filmmaker released earlier this year revealed "a pattern of misconduct and improper communications" between the district attorney's office and the judge in Polanski's case.

"This case serves as a classic example of how our justice system can be abused, and defendants' rights trampled, by an unholy alliance between courts and criminal prosecutors," said a statement from attorneys Chad Hummel and Brad Dalton. Dalton is the son of attorney Doug Dalton, who represented Polanski in the original case.

Poland-born Polanski, 75, has been living in France in self-imposed exile from the United States since fleeing in 1978 after pleading guilty to having sex with a 13-year-old girl in Los Angeles. He was initially indicted on six felony counts and faced up to life in prison. Instead, he pleaded guilty to one count of unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor and five other counts were dismissed.

Polanski, who had already been incarcerated for a psychological diagnosis, skipped sentencing that would have sent him back to prison and fled to France. The judge issued a warrant for his arrest that is still in effect. The maximum sentence was 50 years, although prosecutors had said at the time that the typical sentence was 16 months to three years in prison.

Sandi Gibbons, spokeswoman for District Attorney Steve Cooley, said her office had not been served with the motion and only heard about it through media reports. She said the office could not take a position until they see the legal papers.

"We're looking forward to seeing Mr. Polanski in Los Angeles to litigate it," she said.

A hearing on the matter is scheduled for Jan. 21 in Los Angeles County Superior Court.

Polanski, the director of "Chinatown" and "Rosemary's Baby," has continued to direct films while in exile, including the 2002 Holocaust drama "The Pianist," for which he won the best-director Academy Award.

The woman with whom Polanski admitted having sexual intercourse has said she wants the charge dropped and that Polanski should be allowed to return to the United States.

The new effort to wipe out the charge comes in the wake of an HBO documentary, "Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired" in which the man who prosecuted Polanski, retired Deputy District Attorney Roger Gunson, said that if he had been in Polanski's position, he also would have fled the country.

The documentary also portrayed the late Superior Court Judge Laurence J. Rittenband as a publicity hound who held press conferences and engaged in extra-judicial meetings about the case and received coaching from David Wells.

The case was a sensation when it broke. Polanski, the widower of Manson family murder victim Sharon Tate, was arrested for having sex with the girl he hired as a model for a photo shoot. He was accused of giving her Quaaludes, taking her into a hot tub nude and having sex with her.

[mydiatribe]

Lot''s of anger being proffered here. It''s too bad there is so little thought to go along with it.

Obviously some who are posting are anxious to portray this as a HEINOUS CRIME but haven''t got a clue what statutory rape entails or that this alleged victim would if she could dismiss all the charges against Roman Polanski.

This story points to the divide in this country: IRRATIONAL HATRED! All you do gooders start by reading your Bibles. What does it say about forgiveness? Don''t know -- didn''t think so! BTW - just as many loonies coming from the otherside.
Rational minds are becoming an extinct species!

[downsteamjim]

He only needs about 6 months in Angola Prison. Then he can do "Wanted and Desired, Part II: The Receiving End."

[mrmeatspin]

a few skits from SNL and the liberal masses are willing to forgive this "poor guy who had been exiled to such a harsh place"..

I swear to god..it gets closer and closer for me in putting a bullet in....

[arnoldbowers]

This man need to be put down like a rabid dog, the film was just that the fact is he did what he did and the film is just a make believe thing to sell tickets and entertain, Poplanski need to be given the needle but never given imunity or pordon, he was found guilty and skipped out it the sorry astard though for one minute he was innocent why did he skip out rather fight the courts then, he was guilty and that is the bottom line. Frank

[runningralph]

hatemorons calls Polansky a genius. Polansky didn''t figure out DNA or relativity or quantum mechanics. He is a MOVIE director! Not a scientist, physicist, mathematician or even an engineer. Directing a movie is on a level with managing a construction project. Writing the movie takes more smarts. And the notion that intelligence is an excuse to commit crimes is particularly disgusting.

[tincup356]

fair justice costs money ..so no matter how big the crime,,,,,money can buy you out if you know the right people, or if you have executive privilege, which is what Bush thinks is protecting him from repeatedly breaking the law.

[questionnews]

Generally, people that give a pass on such disgusting crimes are people that visualize themselves doing the same thing if given a chance. Some of the post are quite revealing.

[mrmeatspin]

The new effort to wipe out the charge comes in the wake of an HBO documentary, "Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired" in which the man who prosecuted Polanski, retired Deputy District Attorney Roger Gunson, said that if he had been in Polanski''s position, he also would have fled the country.


*********the liberal media LOVES TO give out a helping hand to a needy liberal god..*********

[mrmeatspin]

hey why not?? the liberals had managed to condition society to accept this kinds of acts..

soon enough it would legal to screw a 12 year old..

[mydiatribe]

Where are those liberal California Supreme Court Justices when you really need them?
ANS: No Glory - No Guts! The LA DA''s office is POed because Polanski skipped town to avoid more jail time.
This is a personal vendetta that the right Judge could fix in a heartbeat. Why hasn''t it been done?
ANS: ROMAN POLANSKI was marginalized by Hollywood Insiders years ago, and he has had some success over seas. No one is willing to champion him because this case is a political football, too risky to fumble.
Polanski finds himself a weak old man who is outside looking in.
He is in bad need of a Legal Eagle Rabbi with some political clout who will stand up for him. Until that happens he is afraid to come home.
Probably what he ought to do is come back face the music, do a few moths in prison and quietly let someone pardon him.
Polanski would be the most worthy PARDON PRESIDENT BUSH could deliver before he exits but he won''t do it. The criticism would be too great.

[hatemorons]

Genius trumps "morality"--the great artist exists in a realm beyond good and evil.

You can give someone a second chance, sure. But they should pay for the crime first. He has jail time to make up for. Once that debt is repaid, direct away.

I just don''t see a comfortable life surrounded by people that worship your genius as "suffering". Since when is living in France "prison-like"?

[runningralph]

AnitaY417 says she thinks Polansky has suffered enough having had to live in France for 30 years. What''s wrong with France? France is a civilized country with good food and a good movie industry. What suffering? Polansky is an escaped criminal. And don''t tell me there is a movie that exonerates him. A movie can be made to "prove" any side of any question. If he has some new evidence to present let him present it to an appellate court. The Los Angeles DA says they are looking forward to it. Meanwhile, he is an escaped convict.

A comment was made that we should "read up on the case" before passing judgment. I have read the transcripts... I know that''s why I feel so passionately about the lack of justice. Even "young ***" are entitled for protection. And as an apparent moron that "has no culture"... at what point does talent allow criminal behavior? For example, two actors are arrested for murder. One is a nobody, but one has multiple Oscars. Because of the talent the Oscar winner has, do you feel,"hatemorons", that that person should go free?

[mydiatribe]

Some people are unable to perceive REAL HARM vs. narrow legalistic interpretation.
Sadly this IS LIKELY a reflection of their intelligence. Now I got nothing against Grandmothers who live in trailer parks.
HOWEVER, Roman Polanski although he may have once been a weak man with a BIG out of control libido; he deserves a second chance even more than WOODY ALLEN.

[dagrandma]

With regard to Woody Allen, I believe Soon Yi was an adult when they began their affair. The two of them married when she was in her late twenties. I don''t see how you can compare the two cases.

[honestabe8]

MyDiatribe: The woman that Allen married was of legal age.

[dagrandma]

"Roman Polanski is one of the great filmmakers of all time; his talent is enormous, his influence universal. Yet he is barred from our nation''''s sanitary shores. Those of you who speak ill of him are nothing more than a pack of talent-free, barbaric yelping animals ravenous for blood--you can scarcely call yourself human beings. Get some culture and some education and leave your mobile homes long enough to see an intelligent film or two."
------------------------------------------------------
Posted by hatemorons

Roman Polanski is a child molestor. That''s pretty much all I need to know.

Now, if you''ll excuse me, I think I''ll take my talentless, barbaric, yelping, cultureless, under-educated a$$ home to my double wide and watch Old Yeller for surely, as God is my witness, only a dumba$$ living in a trailer would believe Roman Polanski should be in jail.

[prometheus41]

"His victim has had to bear those scars her whole life. It''''''''s his turn.''''

It is a little hard to imagine that she feels the same way considering her feelings on his guilt and prosecution. But where this stinks to the rotting core, is the violation of equal protection under the law statutes -- there are a lot of people who have been convicted and sentenced and lived a lot worse doing the same thing Polanski did or less.

I would find it hard to believe that if he returned to California to appeal his conviction, that he wouldn''t or shouldn''t be immediately locked up until his court date, and then regardless of the success of the appeal, he would still have to serve time for obstruction of justice and fleeing the initial conviction without pursueing due process of appeal while being imprisoned, like EVERYONE ELSE of lesser stature would have to do.

Which reminds me, does anybody know WHY THE *** Ted Stevens is still walking around, voting, running for the office of Senator of Alaska, and plain doing whatever the *** he wants outside of prison, while waiting for sentencing on a conviction? I was totally unaware that you federal law states that you actually don''t serve any time for a crime UNTIL ALL YOUR APPEALS have been exhausted IF you were previously a Senator of Alaska.

[mydiatribe]

BTW WoodyAllen''s offense was far more egregious since the girl he married use to be his adopted daughter. I believe that constitutes CHILD ABUSE INCEST! How much jail time did Woody Allen do?
ANS: None!